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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Community Comment

This Bud’s for you…well, maybe not.

Good morning, Netizens...

Now when I was a drinking man, I suppose I probably do my part to defray the costs of the Anheuser-Busch Corporation, as I put away a lot of Budweiser Beer back then. Perhaps that is why, in reading the news of the day, I nearly fell out of my chair upon hearing that Anheuser-Busch has been purchased by the Belgian brewer InBev SA and within a matter of a few months the manufacturer of my once-favorite beer will be referred to Anheuser-Busch SA and owned by a Belgian international consortium. That good old guy with the Scot's name, August Busch IV, who runs Anheuser-Busch will step back into a non-executive role, and the new head of the company that will make Budweiser Beer and the Clydesdales is Carlos Brito, current CEO of InBev SA. Ye ha!

Few products are associated with America as much as Budweiser, which its present owner calls the King of Beers. Its Clydesdale horses are prime-time winners of Super Bowl advertising, and even the label is red, white and blue, with an eagle swooping through the "A." Hell, how much more American can you get than THAT?

Not any more. The deal, according to the press release I read this morning, is all but done. A few signatures, some promissory notes or entries in lines of credit, and Budweiser Beer will no longer have a home in St. Louis, the United States of America.

And what's next? GM gets bought by a consortium in Japan? It surely puts the sting in things when everything we once held dear and near is suddenly for sale at bargain basement prices to foreign countries, doesn't it?

This Bud's for you. Want one? Not for me, no thanks. These foreign buy-outs make me sick.

Dave



Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane written by Dave Laird.